It was an amazing year at the movies. This video countdown represents my favorite 25 films of 2012 (including big-budget, non-Criterion releases and a few red herrings thrown into the intro sequence just to mess with you -- come back soon for my list of the year's best Criterion Collection releases). I was super-aggressive this year about seeing everything that I possibly could, so admittedly this list is all over the place, ranging from massive blockbusters to festival favorites and a tiny no-budget masterpiece that you can stream for free on Vimeo (link below). I tried my best to play fair and really stick to movies that played/are playing/will play in American movie theaters at some point during this calendar year, but at the end of the day I can’t resist taking a Walter White approach to these things: “I’m the one who lists.” I get to bend the rules a little bit if and when I feel like it. Two films in my top 10, for example, won’t be hitting theaters until the spring, but I just couldn’t wait, and I’m eager to help get people excited for them while I can. Likewise, stick around for the title card at the end, which mentions a bunch of incredible “2012” films that I over-excitedly included on last year’s countdown.

Since literally no person on Earth could possibly agree with all of these choices, take to the comments section and let your opinion be heard. Was omitting Pitch Perfect the acca-betrayal of the year? Should I be hunted by wolves for leaving out The Grey (it was #26, I swear!). Will I spend the rest of my days haunted by regret for not including Sleepless Night (rhetorical question, of course I will).

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